Chapter Twenty-Nine
Odem
“Girls, what are you up to in there?” Giggles and the flutter of tiny wings came from behind the nursery door.
Daddy was in there with them, so I wasn’t worried, just teasing them.
But there was no denying the happiness they gave me, fiery mishaps ahead and all.
Only when I opened the door, it wasn’t Daddy who was in there. “Rory? Larkin? Where’s Ronan?”
“Right here behind you.” When I turned, my mouth hit the floor. “You can pick your jaw up, Mate.”
“You look smoking hot,” I pulled him against me, nuzzling his neck. “Do we have time?”
“No, we do not. It’s been far too long since I got to break out with the goods.” He was dressed to the nines, heals and all.
“We’re only going to Ionus’ for dinner.” But damnit if I didn’t want to lick every inch of him right now.
“Meh,” Ronan shrugged. “I’ll take what I can get.”
Yeah, I knew what I wanted to get.
Wipe that smirk of your face, dirty dragon.
You’ll be singing my praises later when this dirty dragon shows you a few new tricks.
“You two about done eye-fu…” Thankfully Larkin caught his near fuck faux pas. “Eyeballing each other. We got the girls dressed.”
“In their finest and most adorable tutu’s I see. Aren’t you just the prettiest dragons in the world.” Ronan said as he picked up Opal. “Your cousin Luna is going to be thrilled to see you.”
Larkin gave Rory a kiss as he stood. I was happy to see he hadn’t denied their bond.
He was, however, concerned about getting pregnant in the midst all that was going on.
While I understood that, I also knew the Goddess wouldn’t give us more than we could handle, and if he and Rory did indeed get pregnant, it was with her blessing.
And with the help of an overly fertile brother-in-law.
Mattias, Kes and Kaelith were back at home, gathering more intel.
The leads to find Cynda were fruitless, though they formed bonds with numerous Merdragon clans along their journey.
Each clan provided information for Emerson to add to the archives, and each had Gorynych refugees amongst them.
Some having suffered their cruel abuse, while others fled before being captured.
The sadness in Kaelith’s eyes couldn’t be missed, though playing with his granddaughters did help ease the pain, just a bit.
Rory handed Ruby to me and blew a raspberry on her chubby cheek.
I wasn’t sure if it was good or bad that our dragonets aged faster than human babies.
We didn’t get to do all the fun baby stuff for long, but on the flip side, we didn’t have to do all the yucky human baby stuff either.
Nope, we shifted to worrying about burning drapes and melted toys which hadn’t happened—yet.
Aristor and the Synorvyn clan had begun construction on the greenhouse.
They insisted on not only building it themselves but maintaining and harvesting the fruits and vegetables.
Repayment, they called it. We told them that wasn’t necessary, but they insisted upon it.
Ronan pointed out that feeling needed was important to them, so we, in turn, provided them with all the necessary tools they required.
Our compound was full, but with a couple of mates still out there we were nowhere near capacity.
It was loud, boisterous, yet so full of life it nearly brought me to tears.
I always loved being surrounded by others.
All those centuries we spent alone were daunting, and I, for one, didn’t miss them in the least.
Construction on new homes down the mountainside had begun.
Still under heavily protected wards, the crews couldn’t see past the area they worked in and therefore had no clue our homes existed.
At first, we weren’t sure this was a good idea, until Raven pointed out that it would allow for a wider area of protection, since all would be lived in by dragons that had been thoroughly vetted and trained by us.
One of the homes, at the base of the hill, was for Upalo, Rory and Larkin.
Larkin wished to be closest to the city, and with them choosing that home as their own, Ionus breathed a bit easier, and Ronan calmed down as well.
He was insistent that his family be on the same grounds as we were and claimed the thought of Upalo and his mates moving into the city gave him hives.
Why? I hadn’t a clue, but Ronan was Ronan and happy mate, happy life and all that jazz, but Ionus put his foot down at connecting them to the underground garage. Too easy to reach our private tunnels.
“There you are!” Ionus smiled. “My beautiful nieces.”
“What are we, chopped liver?”
“Your Papa is so silly. We know Uncle Ionus is your favorite, don’t we girls?” Yeah, my big, angry, control freak brother was a total girl dad too.
Luna tugged on his pantleg. “Papa, want to play with Ruby and Opal.”
“Yes, my princess, that’s why they’re here, for you.” He scooped her up. “See their pretty tutus?”
“Like mine, Papa. Stay away from Hunter and Kane. They burn them.” Poor girl was traumatized for life over that.
“Now, now, Princess, it’s been a while since then. Uncle Odem helped them with their fire.”
She huffed and rolled her eyes. “Yes, Papa. Can we play?” That was a mini-Alex right there.
We took the girls to the playroom where Gramps and Alex were entertaining the boys. Griffin rose as we came in. “Cousins. I protect,” he fisted his chest.
“What are you teaching this boy?” I asked my brother.
“He’s our self-proclaimed protector. A true warrior at heart,” Ionus hugged him. “I’m proud of all my children and their gifts. Griffin will make the perfect leader of the new generation of protectors.”
Shouldn’t he be a kid first, Ionus? You know, do all the stuff we missed out on?
Trust me, we’ve tried, but he is insistent this is his role in life. He plays from time to time but is more interested in training with me.
What do you say to that? If the kid came up with that then maybe the Goddess has spoken.
Griffin took the girls’ hands and led them over to the play table where Luna proceeded to set up a tea party for them.
“Papa, can you get us cookies, pwease?” I loved how certain words didn’t quite fully sink in with them.
Reminded me of their true age and that there was a tiny piece not ready to grow up.
Ionus grinned. “How could I ever say no to that?”
Oh yeah, these girls will rule us.
“Right away, my Princess. Your wish is my command,” Ionus bowed.
“You’re silly, Papa. Thank you.”
Ruby and Opal babbled away, Luna readily answered them.
I often wondered if she really understood what they said.
Luna poured pretend tea into their cups and showed them how to hold it—pinky out, of course.
The girls weren’t at the level Luna was and dropped their cups a couple of times.
Our ever-patient princess just picked them up and showed them again, kissing the tops of their heads like the mini adult she pretended to be.
Or maybe she really was. Who knew anymore with the Denarius offspring. There wasn’t a day that went by where one or all of them didn’t surprise us.
“Miss Luna, may I join your tea party?” Ronan asked.
“Yes, have a seat. You look lovely tonight.” Oh my Goddess that girl had the compliments down. “Who does your hair?”
“Alex, what has your daughter been watching?” No one I knew in this family talked that way.
“Heaven knows. She’s won control over the remote recently. Came in a couple of times and she had it on soap operas.”
Well, that explained it. My sassy mate preened at her compliments and joined right in with the girls. I escaped to the kitchen to find out what we were eating.
“Mattias, Kes, are your new careers in the culinary field?” Every time I turned around these two were cooking.
Keeps us busy and our minds off…things. Mattias said. Kes is struggling more than I am with our mate missing.
Makes sense. Anything I can do to help?
No, but thanks for asking. Since Upalo, Rory and Larkin have fully mated it just hit him hard.
New mates, new lives, and new emotions. Learning to tread the roads ahead would require evasive maneuvering for sure.
Our compound had turned into a town of its own.
Out in the courtyard now sat rows of tables and chairs under canopies where we often dined together.
Not always, but we tried to at least once a week, sometimes more.
We were loud, boisterous and always trying to one up each other, but my brothers and I were the happiest we’ve ever been.
Outside, some of the dragons cooked the meat to go with whatever it was that Mattias and Kes had going in the kitchen.
Too many bodies now to all fit inside one house so we meandered in and out.
It was nice but come winter the cold weather may be a challenge for some of the smaller dragons. Hmm, that gave me an idea.
As we sat around, eating and exchanging stories, it dawned on me how familiar this was.
Days long ago when we’d hit a pub, mead consumed all around you.
Drunk locals wishing to best us at arm wrestling, angry when they lost. In no way did I miss those itchy burlap tunics, nor the inability for humans to properly bathe.
It got so bad there were times we avoided their stinky asses all together.
We’d bought and sold more property than I’ll ever remember but always kept the land Dragon City currently sat upon. It called to us and now I understood why. It was meant to be the safe haven it had become.
Things were winding down, dishes done, and yawning dragonets to tuck into their beds for the night.
Ronan and I said our goodbyes, Kaelith taking the night shift the moment he’d finished eating.
He took his duties as part of our team seriously.
My brothers and I appreciated his and the others dedication to keeping everyone safe.
“Goodnight, my angels.” I kissed Ruby and Opal as Ronan turned off their bedroom light.
They were asleep by the time we’d finished bathing them.
A chore I more than enjoyed taking part in with my mate.
Blowing bubbles and watching their tiny hands try to catch them as their laughter filled the bathroom.
This was the life.
Brothers! To the private beach now! Mattias sharp words set my dragon into protector mode.
“Ronan, grab the girls and go to the horde room. Now!”
He was across the hall, half in dragon form, as was I. We each carried one down the stairs and once my family was safely tucked away, I hurried down the tunnel to the beach area Mattias considered his own.
“Who are you?” Ionus bellowed. “And how did you get here?”
The half shifted Merdragon lay sprawled upon the sand.
Is he even breathing? I asked.
He’s injured, Mattias said, Kes by his side.
Do you know him?
No. I don’t believe we’ve ever met.
“Mattias,” Kes’s eyes widened. “Don’t you feel it?”
Startled, likely by Ionus’ need to yell, the figure bristled. “I-I…” what was he about to tell us? “Ca-cas. Caspian,” he fell to the sand again.
“Goddess,” Mattias scooped him up. “He’s our mate.”